Post by Amy on Aug 2, 2016 16:41:31 GMT 9

Since joining the Zoo, I have been reading some of your experiences and one in particular (that of James H ) struck a chord in me. My elder daughter always speaks in French (ML) especially since starting nursery school, a little in Spanish (which to some extent is another ML in the family home) when she feels like it but no English (ml). Reading James' experience, I realised I am "to blame" for it as I often talk to my husband in French.

Hence upon reading James' post a couple of days ago, I decided to "kick" French out of our home, as it is becoming oppressively dominant and is stifling the other languages. I now exclusively speak English at home, and I allow myself a little bit of leeway by speaking to my husband in Spanish when the kids are in bed or out of earshot.

Amazingly, within a day, my elder daughter started to try replying in English!

My objective is to keep French out of our home (I need to become more conscious of my terrible habit of code-switching). Hopefully it will incite her in starting using more English and foster my daughter's self-confidence to try and make proper sentences in Shakespeare's language.

Let's see by next Sunday where we're standing and I'll keep you posted.

Amy

***"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" - Oscar Wilde***

Post by Joanna on Aug 3, 2016 1:41:30 GMT 9

Very interesting...what language does your husband speak in the home? We have a similar set up in France, I'm the English speaker and now speak English to my husband (or try to...) and always English to my daughter. Where are you in France? I'm near Saint Etienne...

English speaking Canadian Mom, French speaking Dad, transitioning to minority language at home (English) with our daughter in France. Our daughter is doing great with English:)

Post by Amy on Aug 3, 2016 5:09:53 GMT 9

Very interesting...what language does your husband speak in the home? We have a similar set up in France , I'm the English speaker and now speak English to my husband (or try to...) and always English to my daughter. Where are you in France? I'm near Saint Etienne...

Hi Joanna,

We live in Paris and Hubby speaks Spanish

So if I understand, your husband is French and you are the English-speaker, hence maybe the difficulty for you to use English as the relationship language?

Amy

***"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" - Oscar Wilde***

Post by Adam Beck on Aug 3, 2016 16:15:11 GMT 9

Amazingly, within a day, my elder daughter started to try replying in English!

Good for you, Amy! And good for your daughter (actually, both of them)! The more (playfully) persistent you can be about emphasizing English, and "de-emphasizing" French, the more you'll continue to experience productive results.

Our circumstances are quite different, of course, but my own efforts to promote English have been very similar in the sense that I've long been very proactive about emphasizing English and "de-emphasizing" Japanese. And this is true not only in my speech, but also in the resources I bring into the home. In fact, I would say that the more English books and other resources you have, the easier it then becomes--for both parent and child--to engage in that language because the richer English environment naturally encourages experiences in English and fortifies the daily habit of English interaction. (And this is true for any minority language!)

Adam Beck is the founder of Bilingual Monkeys and The Bilingual Zoo, and the author of the popular book Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability amzn.to/22XKuCt and the humorous novel How I Lost My Ear amzn.to/2EsjVRS, both available worldwide. Please support The Bilingual Zoo through Adam's Patreon page www.patreon.com/bilingualmonkeys.

Post by Amy on Aug 4, 2016 4:58:51 GMT 9

Our circumstances are quite different, of course, but my own efforts to promote English have been very similar in the sense that I've long been very proactive about emphasizing English and "de-emphasizing" Japanese. And this is true not only in my speech, but also in the resources I bring into the home. In fact, I would say that the more English books and other resources you have, the easier it then becomes--for both parent and child--to engage in that language because the richer English environment naturally encourages experiences in English and fortifies the daily habit of English interaction. (And this is true for any minority language!)

Indeed we never have enough resources. For that matter, I have 2 things on my to-do list:

1. We will shortly be travelling to Spain. We are planning to visit the local bookshop to purchase some Spanish books to enrich our home library.

2. When we'll return from our trip, I'm planning to purchase online a bit more English books but most importantly a kids CD player so my daughter can listen to music to her heart's content in her bedroom. We also hope she might sing along and learn the lyrics on her own as she does not want us to teach her the lyrics.

The bad news in our "kicking out" the ML from our home is that we have just come with a hurdle. We have just met the school-visiting doctor who visited my daughter's school a month ago and she expressed concern at my daughter's pronunciation. We have been asked to correct my daughter more by repeating her sentence (and since my daughter speaks mostly in French...guess what language we're going to have to bring back into our home... ) and singing more French nursery rhymes to make her practice.

So now we have to re-adjust our scheme. When my daughter mispronounces in French, we have to repeat her sentence correctly and then translate it into our ml. I tried a little French nursery rhymes tonight but she was not receptive.

Tonight is a bit of a down night.

Amy

***"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" - Oscar Wilde***

Post by Adam Beck on Aug 4, 2016 5:48:04 GMT 9

So now we have to re-adjust our scheme. When Julia mispronounces in French, we have to repeat her sentence correctly and then translate it into our ml. I tried a little French nursery rhymes tonight but she was not receptive.

Amy, I wonder if there's another way to meet both objectives: maintaining your use of English more consistently while providing her with models of correct French pronunciation.

Rather than breaking up your use of English by regularly using French at these times--which I'm afraid will weaken your progress with English--I suggest simply taking note of the words or phrases that are not pronounced well in French and establishing a set time each day to (playfully) practice those language points.

Although I don't know the details of the situation, in most cases children tend to "outgrow" early pronunciation problems without much intervention. Unless her difficulties are somehow severe, I'm not sure how continuously they really need your attention, especially if this additional use of French will undercut your efforts in English. In other words, as I'm suggesting, I would seek to satisfy both aims and I think this would be better achieved by continuing to limit your use of French and supporting her French pronunciation at a designated time (like in the bath) so that your use of English can remain consistent throughout the day and will thereby encourage your children to use English, too.

Adam Beck is the founder of Bilingual Monkeys and The Bilingual Zoo, and the author of the popular book Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability amzn.to/22XKuCt and the humorous novel How I Lost My Ear amzn.to/2EsjVRS, both available worldwide. Please support The Bilingual Zoo through Adam's Patreon page www.patreon.com/bilingualmonkeys.

Post by Amy on Aug 4, 2016 15:00:44 GMT 9

Rather than breaking up your use of English by regularly using French at these times--which I'm afraid will weaken your progress with English--I suggest simply taking note of the words or phrases that are not pronounced well in French and establishing a set time each day to (playfully) practice those language points.

Although I don't know the details of the situation, in most cases children tend to "outgrow" early pronunciation problems without much intervention. Unless her difficulties are somehow severe, I'm not sure how continuously they really need your attention, especially if this additional use of French will undercut your efforts in English. In other words, as I'm suggesting, I would seek to satisfy both aims and I think this would be better achieved by continuing to limit your use of French and supporting her French pronunciation at a designated time (like in the bath) so that your use of English can remain consistent throughout the day and will thereby encourage your children to use English, too.

It is a very interesting suggestion Adam. I'll give it a shot tonight. My daughter's problem isn't that dramatic. Our relatives were surprised at this medical report. I totally agree with you, she'll probably outgrow them. Bilingual kids require a little more time and I think that ultimately that is what it is coming down to. Plus the fact my daughter likes her comfort zone and is not always willing to make efforts. But I do want to help her and not simply sit by because otherwise I'll have that doctor on my back again in 3 months' time, and I wouldn't be surprised if she tried again to persuade me to give up English.

Amy

***"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" - Oscar Wilde***

Post by Melissa on Aug 4, 2016 20:06:36 GMT 9

Hi Amy,

All of my children have had different problems with speech and language that we have used speech therapy for. A couple of my children needed help with their pronunciation. But I noticed that the therapists were really proactive about working on the more difficult sounds.

They had a reference sheet of English sounds and what age they needed to be attained by. So if the S sound should be solid by age 8, they would start working on it at age 5. I haven't seen a similar guideline for French sounds but there must be one available. I do know that the rolling r is a later sound. My young girls could not produce it at all when they were at home with me. A few months after attending French school, and hearing everyone around them making this sound, they had mastered it.

Maybe if you could find a similar reference for French sounds, you could use this as your guide for when to worry about late sound production. If she is not producing the correct sounds when she is in school, perhaps the teacher can emphasize the sounds. Or you could do a bit of speech therapy so that she is getting the input and practice with someone she already works with in the ML and you can keep ml at home.

If your daughter is not in school yet, it makes sense that she may not be making some key sounds that are not found in your ml. Please don't let a professional tell you to cut back or drop the ml, for any reason. I had professionals tell me this when my oldest was being diagnosed with autism. I got scared and listened and we are still playing catch-up with the ml. The sad thing is that my oldest is VERY good and enjoys learning other languages.

Post by Amy on Aug 5, 2016 5:09:01 GMT 9

Awww wow!! Melissa this table is brilliant! Thank you ever so much! It has made my day! It didn't occur to me to search for such a guide. Thanks to you I attempted a Google search in French and found these:

My eldest is aged 4 and has already done her first year at nursery school though only part-time, which with hindsight might be one of the reasons she might also be lagging a bit behind pronunciation wise. I spotted she has an issue with S-followed by a consonant whatever the language and X in English (as it is pronounced as "Xsssss" unlike in French and Spanish), but according to the tables, the S sound comes between 4 and 5 in French (let alone in English at 8!!)... Since she has barely turned 4, she still has time to outgrow this, especially that she'll do her next school year on a full-time basis.

Thank you for your experience and support, I really appreciate it: I didn't intend to cut back and I certainly don't want to give up English now!

Hope you have a lovely day.

Amy

***"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" - Oscar Wilde***

Post by Mayken on Aug 10, 2016 17:30:59 GMT 9

Amy,

In my experience, French school doctors seem to be very keen on pronunciation and will very often tell parents their kids need speech therapy. Given what Melissa said and the information you found, I wouldn't worry about your 4-year-old's pronunciation too much and definitely not let anyone discourage you from using the ml. If necessary, a speech therapist working the specific sounds with your daughter in ML sounds like the most efficient solution.

Post by Melissa on Aug 10, 2016 22:31:44 GMT 9

I can't remember where I heard this. But I heard or read of a francophone family from Quebec who moved to France. The school insisted their child could not speak French and needed intervention from a speech therapist. The child did not have an actual enunciation problems, just a Quebecois accent. This makes me laugh as I try to picture a person from Ireland coming to Toronto and the school telling the family they need professional intervention to teach the child how to correctly pronounce their maternal language.

Post by Amy on Aug 27, 2016 6:40:03 GMT 9

Mayken, Melissa,

Thank you for your comments. She is my eldest and the eldest child of all my bi/multilingual social circle, hence it is my first experience as a parent as well as having no reference from my social circle. It is so comforting to hear your comment Mayken and I will bear it in mind.

Melissa, your comment is hilarious though very sad...it really illustrates our ignorance of anything that comes from outside our borders.

Here is an update of our progress at kicking the ML out of our home. I was not able to keep you posted on the Sunday as I had planned as we were running like headless chickens to pack our suitcases to spend 2 and a half weeks in my husband's family in Spain.

I'm delighted to say the stay was extremely beneficial for my eldest one. Before arriving, my sister-in-law had spotted at the local "Culture House" workshops for kids called "Playing with languages", and had suggested we sign up my eldest to the 2h30 workshops on a daily basis, which we did. The workshops were in Spanish and aimed at playing with French and English. It had a brilliant impact on my daughter as she had no choice but to communicate in Spanish with everyone around her, and when she discovered she could answer correctly the questions in French and English, it seems that the penny dropped and that she was proud of her ability at speaking correctly in these languages.

Add to that the fact that all my husband's family only spoke Spanish (and particularly my daughter's 3 year old cousin) to her, she very quickly started to speak in Spanish. She started mixing intensely with French and promptly improved as everyone helped her and corrected her. My brother-in-law also enjoyed speaking English with her (he's Spanish but I think it amused him a lot to have the opportunity to exchange in English with her), and I could hear how she replied to him in English very spontaneously without knowing that though I was out of sight I could hear them. From what I heard, it sounded like she was delighted to talk with someone without hindrance.

I think these holidays really helped her to take confidence and move beyond the passive stage of listening and understanding to actually thinking and replying.

We have now been back 48 hours and my eldest keeps on talking in Spanish (dominant ml if we can qualify it as such) and makes a lot more efforts to speak in English (recessive ml) but French is still there. I also need to be careful not to fall back into my former bad habit of speaking French to my husband.

What I do dread is the start of the new school year next Thursday as my daughter will be bathed in the ML again...

I am contemplating drawing 3 little flags (UK, Spanish, French) and sticking the UK and Spanish one on the flat's door to remind her of the "home languages" as we walk in, and the French one on the other side of the door, to remind her on the way out that she'll now speak in ML.

My eldest is a very visual child and this could act as a gentle reminder. I don't know whether to wait for the start of the school year to do that or whether to do that straight away.

Next update: week beginning 5th September to establish the first impact of the return to the ML school.

Amy

***"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" - Oscar Wilde***

Post by Adam Beck on Aug 30, 2016 8:05:07 GMT 9

I think these holidays really helped her to take confidence and move beyond the passive stage of listening and understanding to actually thinking and replying.

We have now been back 48 hours and Julia keeps on talking in Spanish (dominant ml if we can qualify it as such) and makes a lot more efforts to speak in English (recessive ml) but French is still there. I also need to be careful not to fall back into my former bad habit of speaking French to my husband.

What I do dread is the start of the new school year next Thursday as my daughter will be bathed in the ML again...

I am contemplating drawing 3 little flags (UK, Spanish, French) and sticking the UK and Spanish one on the flat's door to remind her of the "home languages" as we walk in, and the French one on the other side of the door, to remind her on the way out that she'll now speak in ML.

Julia is a very visual child and this could act as a gentle reminder. I don't know whether to wait for the start of the school year to do that or whether to do that straight away.

Amy, it sounds like your family had a very productive trip! Good for you, and good for your daughter!

Your idea about the flags is clever and could be a helpful reminder to everyone about your use of the family's languages. Let us know how this goes...

As for your concern about the new school year, I certainly understand as my own kids have been attending majority language schools since they were small and this dynamic has forced me to be very proactive and resourceful in my efforts to advance the minority language. In a way, much of my journey--and my writing about it--has revolved around this basic condition. For blog posts that specifically address this issue, see the article below as well as the related posts you'll find beneath it...

Adam Beck is the founder of Bilingual Monkeys and The Bilingual Zoo, and the author of the popular book Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability amzn.to/22XKuCt and the humorous novel How I Lost My Ear amzn.to/2EsjVRS, both available worldwide. Please support The Bilingual Zoo through Adam's Patreon page www.patreon.com/bilingualmonkeys.

Post by Amy on Aug 31, 2016 17:55:40 GMT 9

Hi Adam!

The tricky bit is now to keep it up!

Now, I have done the flag thing and combined it with your creating Mysteries tip. Printed 3 tiny flags, put them in a golden envelope and entrusted my "Special agent" (Mission Impossible tune ***ON***) to guess what was in it before I gave her a mission. It got her talking though she's still a bit young to analyse, to question. When she opened the envelope I explained each picture represented the languages we spoke and asked her which picture represented each parent's language and the one that was spoken at home and outside of home. Then I gave her the mission of getting the sticky tape and to stick on the flat's entrance door the flags of the ml languages to remind us on the way in, and on the inside of the door, the ML flag for the way out. (Mission Impossible tune ***OFF***)

Let's see how the idea makes its way through her little head. As I had planned, it has started getting her to talk about it on her way out this morning as she saw the ML flag on her way out.

To continue the de-emphasizing of the ML, I have also taken 2 other steps:

1. Add resources.I have carried out various actions, some planned and others new:a) Extra Spanish books - TICKb) Extra English books - TBCompleted - Book titles identified, only need to order themc) Replace the French Kids' magazine subscription with an English one - TBCompleted - Magazine identified, only need to subscribe online

The only action yet to be completed is ordering the Music Player for the kid's bedroom. Need to look up the best bargain.

2. Sanitisinghome environmentI "purged" the ML from our home environment in 2 other ways:a) Further to Jo's post I got Chromecast. It's really easy-peasy to set up (even impressed Hubby ). Hopefully it will solve my ML TV cartoons headache .b) I replaced the morning ML breakfast radio programme with BBC London's breakfast radio programme.

As a result, for the moment we hardly switch on the ML TV or radio. So now, my daughters should be hearing anything but ML at home.

Amy

***"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" - Oscar Wilde***

Post by Adam Beck on Sept 3, 2016 6:07:58 GMT 9

Amy, this thread is an excellent example of the kind of mindful, proactive efforts that will gradually pay off in strong bilingual success. I applaud your actions!

And, yes, that success is also the result of our (playful) persistence. Without perseverance, the progress we foster won't be sustainable. This is why, for many minority language parents, raising a bilingual child is truly a childhood-long commitment.

Adam Beck is the founder of Bilingual Monkeys and The Bilingual Zoo, and the author of the popular book Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability amzn.to/22XKuCt and the humorous novel How I Lost My Ear amzn.to/2EsjVRS, both available worldwide. Please support The Bilingual Zoo through Adam's Patreon page www.patreon.com/bilingualmonkeys.

Post by Amy on Sept 3, 2016 18:11:55 GMT 9

Cheers Adam

Your 3 Essential Ways Parents Raising Bilingual Children Should Be Like Zombies article was a funny read and I do agree that we have to be very obsessed with our bilingual input and above all creating a need to communicate in the ml (the most challenging if you ask me). And since reading it, it makes me feel that it is at last alright for me to be obsessed with my daughters' bilingual education. It is "infectious" too: my husband notices our daughter's ml progress and sees the importance of all these efforts and obsessions.

It is becoming easier for me to chat to my husband in English (ml2) and he always answers in Spanish (ml1). Doesn't feel odd anymore.

My daughter has only been back 2 days at ML nursery school, so for the moment the ML has not yet returned invasively into our home. My daughter is making a lot of beautiful efforts to communicate in our 2 ml. Yesterday we shared a really magical time as she called me (in ml2) to her room to play and we played in ml2 all the way through. Amazing! I think it is also boosting her confidence to see that she can talk in this language too, and not just ML.

This morning we watched ml2 cartoons together. Lovely times spent together. Brings us even closer.

I have got round to order online the English (ml2) magazine subscription. The first issue should arrive mid-October. I really look forward to it and hope she'll like it.

What I'm really keen on now is to find that music player so she can at last listen to ml nursery rhymes in her room whenever she feels like it.

Let's see how things continue to develop.

Amy

***"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" - Oscar Wilde***

Post by Adam Beck on Sept 8, 2016 15:03:20 GMT 9

Your 3 Essential Ways Parents Raising Bilingual Children Should Be Like Zombies article was a funny read and I do agree that we have to be very obsessed with our bilingual input and above all creating a need to communicate in the ml (the most challenging if you ask me). And since reading it, it makes me feel that it is at last alright for me to be obsessed with my daughters' bilingual education. It is "infectious" too: my husband notices our daughter's ml progress and sees the importance of all these efforts and obsessions.

Amy, I enjoy reading about your happy developments! Keep them coming!

Zombies aside (glad you liked that post--it was fun to write!), I do think it's vital to be sanely "obsessed" about the bilingual aim, particularly if our circumstances are working against our success. In cases where the results aren't matching the parents' hopes, the remedy involves elevating this "obsession": becoming more mindful, more proactive, on a daily basis.

Another way to look at this is through the prism of "priority" (see Challenge #8: Make This the Highest Priority You Can): Generally speaking, the height of our success will match the height of this aim as a priority in our lives. If we want greater success, we have to make this a greater priority!

From the efforts you describe, it's clear that bilingual education is a high priority for your family, and I expect this will continue to produce a lot of joyful success through the years ahead.

Adam Beck is the founder of Bilingual Monkeys and The Bilingual Zoo, and the author of the popular book Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability amzn.to/22XKuCt and the humorous novel How I Lost My Ear amzn.to/2EsjVRS, both available worldwide. Please support The Bilingual Zoo through Adam's Patreon page www.patreon.com/bilingualmonkeys.

Post by Amy on Sept 8, 2016 19:08:52 GMT 9

Zombies aside (glad you liked that post--it was fun to write!), I do think it's vital to be sanely "obsessed" about the bilingual aim, particularly if our circumstances are working against our success. In cases where the results aren't matching the parents' hopes, the remedy involves elevating this "obsession": becoming more mindful, more proactive, on a daily basis.

Indeed, I do mean I'm obsessed with my daughters' bilingual education in a "healthy" kind of way! I do not want to build a pressure on my daughters because I don't think that it will incite the learning (kids only really learn having fun) but also I want to pass on our (hubby and mine) heritage. Not a burden.

Thanks for the link to Challenge #8. Just posted about my priorities...though you can already tell from this "Track Your Progress" thread where bilingual education stands in our home.

To keep you posted on the development, one week into the new ML nursery year, my eldest sticks pretty well to the home languages (the flag effect?? ). She does speak in ML or mix ML with ml2 (English) when she struggles at formulating her long sentences, but I help her by repeating the whole sentence in ml2 and get her to repeat the little bit she was missing. I recently got the feeling my eldest looks interested in learning to communicate in her 2 ml.

The other morning, when I woke her up and asked if she wanted to switch her alarm-clock off herself, she spontaneously answered (and that was her first sentence of the day!) in ml2 "No, I want you to switch it off."

This morning she walked in the living-room and said "Good morning" to me in ml. We have loads of really positive little examples like these.

ml1 (Spanish) is also blossoming. Hubby is delighted.

I think that taking up the initiative of kicking the ML out of our home was the best thing we ever did for our daughters and their bilingual education. Since my post on "sanitising" the home environment, we can really notice the benefit.

What I do watch out for is the danger of the ML schooling and also the wearing-off of the novelty effect.

There is one thing I am not sure about though. The other day, my eldest asked me "What does "too much" mean?". I didn't know how to explain such an abstract concept, so instinctively I switched to ML (my nasty code-switching habit ) and translated "too much". With hindsight, I should have at least switched to ml1 (Spanish). But I wonder if the translating is the right approach? I remember from my childhood in international schools that teachers never switched languages and always explained in the language they taught. The thing is, it was such an abstract thing to explain I just didn't see any other way to answer the question.

Then yesterday, my daughter was saying a long sentence in ML (being too long she couldn't phrase it in ml2 so I listened to repeat it in English), and there was one word I didn't get (pronunciation problem). So I repeated what I had understood and asked her what she meant for that word. She repeated but I still couldn't catch it, and when she saw I was at a loss to understand that word she switched to ml2 and said "Sky!!!"). So now, she understands the value of translating but it is a double-edged sword, and I feel like I might have set the cat among the pigeons...

Amy

***"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" - Oscar Wilde***

Post by Mayken on Sept 8, 2016 23:24:20 GMT 9

As for translation vs. explaining, I had the case just last night when my daughter asked about a couple of words in the bedtime story. At first, I offered every synonym I could think of, and concluded with the ML word. But I was thinking the same as you, "should I have left out the translation?"

I'd say, try to explain in the ml, and only when she really doesn't understand, use the ML.

Post by Amy on Sept 10, 2016 4:17:03 GMT 9

Thank you Mayken. You are right. Translating is the easy way out but it also re-emphasizes the ML when I'm trying to kick it out of home. Plus, the challenge of explaining with synonyms will enrich my daughters' vocabulary.

There are so many situations we can't really anticipate and that definitely was one of them for me. Now, I hope that next time I am confronted to it I'll feel less thrown off.

Amy

***"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" - Oscar Wilde***

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What's on your mind right now? Just type and hit "Enter" to share it here!

Amy: Cute code switching this morning when my 3 year old told me "I get my pótamo" (she meant her hippo soft toy). This mixing was music to my ears... It means she is truly growing trilingual. Apr 6, 2019 2:51:35 GMT 9*

Adam Beck: Lovely, Amy! Good for you, and good for her! P.S. I like hippos.Apr 7, 2019 10:32:37 GMT 9

Alba: So funny, Amy! Great to hear I love the word Hypo, every child says it different! My son did something similar when he say "This tocotó", he calls horses "tocotó" based on the noise they made when trotting (tocotó, iiii (neigh)-ok, for a Spanish ear) Apr 8, 2019 6:52:09 GMT 9

Amy: Cheer Alba and Adam Beck! . I love these "baby" words. They are so cute. I like the "This tocotó" another example of state of the art Spanglish <3Apr 9, 2019 4:54:05 GMT 9

Mayken: Got home from a short trip to Zürich - heard German, French & Italian on the train, and both German and French in the tram. And everyone speaks English too. It was nice to be able to choose which of my languages I wanted to speak!May 6, 2019 23:07:42 GMT 9

Mayken: It is, Amy . I didn't realise how much I had missed it.May 7, 2019 23:10:43 GMT 9

Amy: Last year, a new colleague joined my team. She's trilingual in the same languages as me. It was like magic. We change languages and even code-switch several time a day. I had missed that so much!! My monolingual colleagues must think we're freaks! lolMay 8, 2019 4:56:12 GMT 9

Amy: Unfortunately, she has resigned and is leaving shortly. I was so proud to introduce her to my eldest, one day that I had brought her to show her round my office. And to introduce other bi/multilingual colleagues. Show how important languages are.May 8, 2019 4:58:26 GMT 9

Mayken: That must have been wonderful, Amy! I'm sorry she is leaving. I would love to find someone like that. We had an English intern last year who spoke German and French. We chatted a lot.May 8, 2019 6:06:01 GMT 9

Caro C.: Oh Amy I sort of feel related to what you are saying. Some months ago I made a friend from the US. She happens to be a neighbor with four kids. We’ve been sharing back and forth and I’d love my baby girl to eventually be able to share with her childrenMay 13, 2019 12:55:09 GMT 9

Caro C.: Although maybe they will be a bit old for her, still we (I mean their mom = Sarah and me) both are very happy and grateful for each other as friends.May 13, 2019 12:57:05 GMT 9*

Mayken: As of yesterday, I am aunt to a baby girl who lives in our ml country with 2 ml parents, and I'm already planning to get them a nice nursery rhymes CD for our first visit. May 16, 2019 20:03:47 GMT 9*

Caro C.: OMG I just came across this song and it filled my heart with joy and excitement...perfect for all of us who are parents: youtu.be/g1fcnhB8GOYMay 19, 2019 14:01:55 GMT 9*

Adam Beck: Caro, thanks for sharing that lovely song. Raffi was one of our very favorite musicians when my kids were small. We listened to him all the time. I highly recommend his albums as a source of very enjoyable and very effective English input. May 20, 2019 15:32:26 GMT 9

Mayken: My daughter is on a field trip this week and I feel like I've lost my main purpose May 20, 2019 20:03:33 GMT 9*